Please contact the State Records Research Centre:
Postal Address: GPO Box 464, Adelaide SA 5001
Phone: 08 7322 7077
Quote this number to access your records: State Records of South Australia Series ID, GRG78/1
These records are part of Records of the Hospitals Department and Predecessors (1836 - current).
This series comprises correspondence files of the Colonial Surgeon’s office and its successors, including the Hospitals Department. The correspondence contains little information about patients, however it does include correspondence relating to the lunatic asylums and mental hostpials, and it may include correspondence related to Estcourt House and Mareeba Babies Hospital.
A Research Centre Members card, obtainable at the Archives, is required to research records held at State Records.
Although some very early records relating to children in care in South Australia are open for access, most records relating to children are subject to a 100 year restriction, particularly those which contain personal information about individuals. Written permission must be obtained from the government agency which created the record in order to access restricted material. To obtain permission a Freedom of Information (FOI) request form must be submitted to the relevant government department. State Records staff will be able to assist you with this.
This series is made up of the files of the South Australian Colonial Surgeon’s Office, Inspector General of Hospitals’ Office, and the Hospitals Department. The correspondence mostly relates to staffing matters, payment authorisations, and administrative issues. There is little information about hospital or asylum patients in these files, other than reports on exceptional incidents and attempts to recover payments. Unit 1 of this series directly relates to the Colonial Lunatic Asylum and the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum.